UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington,  D.C. 20549 

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 OR 15(d) of The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): March 18, 2014

Basic Energy Services, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (817)  334-4100   

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)

________________________

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

[   ]  Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

[   ]  Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

[   ]  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

[   ]  Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers. 

On February 6, 2014, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of Basic Energy Services, Inc. (“Basic”), after discussion with a compensation consultant, approved base salaries for 2014 and cash bonuses for 2013 for certain of Basic’s executive officers, including Basic’s named executive officers. Cash bonus amounts for 2013 include payments previously made pursuant to Basic’s quarterly management incentive bonus plan, to the extent applicable to such executive officers. The approved 2014 base salary and 2013 cash bonus amounts for each of these executive officers are set forth in the table below. Performance-Based Stock Awards

On March 18, 2014, the Board of Directors of Basic Energy Services, Inc. (“Basic”) approved grants of performance-based stock awards to each of Basic’s executive officers, including Basic’s named executive officers. Pursuant to the grant agreements, the performance-based awards consist of shares to be earned (the “TSR Shares”) based upon Basic’s total shareholder return (“TSR”) relative to the TSR of a peer group of energy services companies measured over the Performance Period (defined as the one-year calculation period starting on the 20th NYSE trading day prior to and including the last NYSE trading day of 2013 and ending on the last NYSE trading day of 2014), with Basic’s ranking in TSR performance being compared to the ranking in TSR performance of the members of the PB Peer Group (as defined below). The companies in the PB Peer Group will be ranked from best performing to worst performing with regard to each company’s respective TSR performance, with the PB Peer Group company ranked 1st being the company with the highest TSR when compared to the other PB Peer Group companies and the PB Peer Group company ranked 13th being the company with the lowest TSR when compared to the other PB Peer Group companies, with rankings 2 through 12 being determined in descending order based upon the corresponding descent in TSR performance for companies in the PB Peer Group from 2nd highest to 12th highest. For the 2014 performance year, the shares awarded pursuant to the performance-based awards comprise one half of the total long-term incentive compensation for each of Basic’s executive officers, including Basic’s named executive officers. The remaining one half of the total long-term incentive compensation has been awarded at the discretion of Basic’s Board of Directors based on the recommendation of management, as described below under the caption “2014 Long-Term Incentive Awards.”

The target number of TSR Shares and maximum number of TSR Shares that may be earned by each executive officer pursuant to the grant agreement is as follows:

The grantee will earn shares as follows: (A) the percentage set forth below of the target share amounts set forth above if Basic’s TSR is equal to the TSR of the ranked member of the PB Peer Group set forth below, (B) 150% of the target share amounts set forth above based on Basic’s TSR being greater than the TSR of the 1st-ranked member of the PB Peer Group and (C) 0% of the target share amounts set forth above based on Basic’s TSR being less than the TSR of the 13th-ranked member of the PB Peer Group:

;  provided that if Basic’s TSR is greater than the TSR of one PB Peer Group company and less than the TSR of the next highest ranked PB Peer Group company, the exact percentage of shares earned by the grantee will be determined by proportional interpolation between the percentages assigned to such PB Peer Group companies set forth above.

“PB Peer Group” means each of the following companies: (1) C&J Energy Services, Inc.; (2) Forbes Energy Services Ltd.; (3) Hercules Offshore, Inc.; (4) Key Energy Services, Inc.; (5) Natural Gas Services Group, Inc.; (6) Oil States International, Inc.; (7) Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc.; (8) Pioneer Energy Services Corp.; (9) Superior Energy Services, Inc.; (10) Team, Inc.; (11) Tesco Corp.; (12) Tetra Technologies, Inc. and (13) Forum Energy Technologies, Inc.; provided that the Compensation Committee in its sole discretion can determine to continue to include in or exclude from the peer group any of the above companies based on the occurrence of certain circumstances set forth in the grant agreements, but in no event may substitute any other company in such excluded company’s place as part of the PB Peer Group.

Once earned, the shares of restricted stock will vest in one-third increments on March 15, 2016, 2017 and 2018 (subject to accelerated vesting in certain circumstances as described below). All unvested shares of restricted stock will be forfeited by the grantee (a) if the grantee’s employment with Basic is terminated by Basic for “Cause” before the restricted stock is vested or (b) if the grantee terminates his employment with Basic before the restricted stock is vested for any reason other than (i) “Good Reason” or (ii) the death or “Disability” of the grantee, as such terms are defined in the grant agreement. The grantee will vest in all rights to the restricted stock on the earliest of (i) the dates set forth above; (ii) termination by Basic without Cause; (iii) the death or Disability of the grantee or (iv) Termination for Good Reason.

The foregoing description in this Item 5.02 is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the form of Performance-Based Award Agreement, which is filed as Exhibit 10.1 hereto and is incorporated herein by reference.

2014 Long-Term Incentive Awards

On March 18, 2014, Basic’s Board of Directors, after discussion with a compensation consultant and based on the recommendation of the Compensation Committee, approved grants of restricted stock to executive officers under Basic’s long-

term incentive plan based on management’s recommendation and the executive officer’s personal performance. These awards of restricted stock will vest over a three-year period beginning in March 2016. These awards comprise one half of the total long-term incentive compensation for each of Basic’s executive officers, including Basic’s named executive officers. The remaining one half of the total long-term incentive compensation is being awarded pursuant to the grants of performance-based restricted stock, as described above under the caption “Performance-Based Stock Awards,” which award amounts will be determined in 2015 based on Basic’s TSR performance in 2014. The number of shares issuable to each of the executive officers under the restricted stock award agreements for 2014 is set forth below:

Item 9.01  Financial Statements and Exhibits.  

(d)  Exhibits.

10.1Form of Performance-Based Award Agreement (effective March 2014).

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

EXHIBIT INDEX